The present invention relates to static building structures, and more particularly, to precast wall panels that may be interconnected to form a core or perimeter wall system for erecting or constructing a high-rise building or other walled structure.
High-rise buildings typically are constructed to have six or more floors or stories above ground level. The design of a high-rise building is usually governed by wind effects. One of the most efficient structural systems to resist wind loads for a high-rise building is an interior or core wall system. Conventional core wall systems for high-rise buildings are typically constructed from concrete (cast-in-place over rebar cages for reinforcement) for each story of the high-rise building. In certain markets, conventional core wall systems incorporate structural steel columns and floor beams erected prior to the construction of the cast-in-place core walls. In these conventional core wall systems, concrete is cast in place over the structural steel columns and floor beams. A concrete core wall system provides a number of benefits compared to a structural steel system. Concrete core walls have higher structural damping than structural steel systems, therefore reducing the amount of sway and drift due to wind loads. Concrete core walls provide increased safety and security for fire stairs, standpipes, and communications systems. Because of these reasons, following the events of Sep. 11, 2001, there has been even more emphasis on the use of concrete core walls systems for erecting or constructing high-rise buildings.
As previously noted, conventional concrete core systems used to erect a high-rise building have been constructed using cast-in-place reinforced concrete, including concrete cast-in-place over a previously erected steel structure. The disadvantages of cast-in-place concrete cores versus structural steel core frames is the labor intensity, extended construction schedule, miss-located embedded plates, and shrinkage and creep effects. Moreover, construction workers often cannot work on a floor or story of a high-rise building while concrete contractors are working on a story above the construction workers due to the risk of falling concrete. Thus, using cast-in-place concrete core wall systems to construct or erect a high-rise building often increases the time required to erect the building and adds costs if other construction workers are idled while the concrete contractors work to form the cast-in-place concrete core wall systems.
Conventional precast modular components (such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,952,471; 4,142,340; 6,076,319; 6,301,851; 6,457,281 and 6,493,996) have been used to construct volumetric enclosures such as low rise building structures, rooms, basements, cisterns, factories, retaining walls, and flood control dykes. However, these conventional precast components are not suitable for constructing or erecting a high-rise building. In particular, these conventional precast components, and structures built from such components, lack sufficient strength to resist and transfer wind and gravity loads as present in core wall systems of a high-rise building.
There is therefore a need for precast wall panels and a method of constructing a precast wall system that overcomes the problems noted above and enables the erection of core walls for a high-rise building.